Maine Warden Scott Osgood photographed this dead, 31-year-old bald eagle and its prey, a 2½-foot lamprey eel, on April 25 during an investigation into the eagle's death. Both were electrocuted on the power line above them.Maine Warden Service PhotoMaine Warden Scott Osgood photographed this dead, 31-year-old bald eagle and its prey, a 2½-foot lamprey eel, on April 25 during an investigation into the eagle's death. Both were electrocuted on the power line above them.By Terry Karkos, Sun JournalFollow on Twitter Follow on Twitter Find on Facebook Find on FacebookPosted July 09, 2015, at 12:18 p.m. Last modified July 09, 2015, at 1:40 p.m.

MILBRIDGE, Maine — Maine Warden Scott Osgood has investigated many incidents of bald eagles found dead in the state.

But only one was electrocuted after fishing an eel out of Narraguagus Bay in Washington County.

Osgood’s accounting of that incident was briefly mentioned Wednesday morning in the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s July report.

Just after noon on April 25, Osgood found a banded, dead bald eagle beside a dead lamprey eel under power lines on a residential lawn in Milbridge. The eel was about 2½ feet long.

“I suspect that as the eagle flew over the lines with the eel in his talons, the dangling eel contacted the power lines and killed both predator and prey,” Osgood said Wednesday.

“It was kind of unique,” he said. “Eagles usually get killed by flying into wires in bad visibility or they break a wing and crash. I’ve handled quite a few, but never with an eel.”

As if that weren’t odd enough, Osgood took the eagle to Bangor where Inland Fisheries Bird Group biologists called in its leg bands and learned the raptor was more than three decades old when it died. That set a near record for Down East, Maine.

Osgood said the eagle was banded on Mount Desert Island as an eaglet 31 years ago.

That, in itself, was an eyebrow-raiser, because bald eagles don’t usually live that long in the wild, state wildlife biologist Brad Allen said Wednesday.

Allen said Charlie Todd, one of his former co-workers and Maine’s former state bald eagle expert, was involved in banding the Milbridge eagle. “He told me at the time, ‘That’s an old eagle,'” Allen said. “He’s not the oldest we have, but he was very close. Our oldest was 34 years old.”

According to the National Eagle Center website, an eagle that reaches adulthood might live 20 to 25 years. Seventy to 80 percent of eagles die before they reach adulthood at 5 years of age.

“This guy was pushing the age envelope and he probably lived all his life in eastern Maine,” Allen said. “There was no foul play, of course, but it’s unfortunate that an animal of that age and stature had to lose his life to a silly lamprey.”

In his career, Allen said, he’s seen a dozen eagles that died of electrocution, which is among the top five causes of bald eagle deaths, according to a Vanderbilt University study. But in those cases, the eagles were standing or nesting on power lines or flew into wires in poor weather conditions.

Allen said he had one case of a peregrine falcon that was electrocuted when it was carrying an eel that touched power lines, but the Milbridge eagle was a first.

He said eagle biologists encourage utility companies to space power lines greater than 6 feet apart to protect eagles from electrocution from flying into wires, because bald eagle wingspans are 6 to 7½ feet.

Allen said the strangest bald eagle electrocution death he investigated happened last May in Bangor when two sickly adult eagles came down from a nest. The female, who was found on a sidewalk, was under the influence of a toxin and was rescued and taken to Avian Haven, a rehabilitation practice in Freedom.

Her mate, however, was electrocuted. “The male was acting funny and he flew down and landed awkwardly on branches and fell onto power lines and was fried instantly in front of people watching,” Allen said.

This past winter, Allen said, he learned that the eagle had pentobarbital in its system. “Pentobarbital is a euthanasia drug used to put down animals, so he probably fed on a euthanized animal that was not buried properly.”

Both Allen and Osgood said eagles die all the time in Maine.

“Dead eagles are not uncommon,” Osgood said. “We get a lot of calls for them in the spring, because that’s when they’re more active. That’s when fish, like alewives, are running up the rivers. Alewives provide a lot of food for eagles at that time of year.”

He attributed the Milbridge eagle’s death to natural causes, albeit in a most unnatural manner.

“I’m surmising that that eagle had probably done that 100 times, carrying fish over the power lines that aren’t long enough to contact the wires, but he did it this time with an eel dangling more than 2 feet below him and got zapped,” Osgood said.

LIVERMORE -- A wind power provider that operates about 800 turbines in the Altamont Pass -- where thousands of birds are believed killed by them each year -- is shutting down its operations.

Altamont Winds told the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service in an email Oct. 23 that it is ceasing operations as of Sunday.

The decision was applauded by environmental groups, which for years have been fighting to build awareness around the large numbers of golden eagles, raptors, burrowing owls and other birds that are killed by turbines. (cont reading at site...short article) Wasn't this one of the Passes that Coverts talked about?

"We are looking forward to have an exciting year with the eagle cam. This nest is located near Lock and Dam 13, north of Fulton, IL on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The wildlife cams can be found on our website, www.stewardsummr.org. Before you get click happy, read the instructions so you can get connected. (they are in red)."

I couldn't get that url to pull up. Try this one: http://stewardsumrr.org/You will need to fill out the registration which consists of typing guest as username and guest as password. Only took me 10 min to figure that out. I hope this info is not already posted. If it is, please feel free to delete.

I posted this back on January 28, 2013, after a couple of eagle cam nests that year had eggs that failed to hatch. In light of what has occurred at the Decorah nest this year (2016), as well as a number of other nests over the last 4 years, it seems that what I wrote back then might still be relevant. Here is my original post:WHEN BALD EAGLE EGGS DON’T HATCH

Already this season of Bald Eagle watching we have witnessed the sad circumstance of eggs not hatching: both eggs of the two-egg clutch at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge nest in Oklahoma, one of the two eggs at the Jordan Lake nest in North Carolina (it is impossible to know whether it was the first or second of the clutch since the egg-laying dates are unknown there), and the three eggs at the DNR nest in Minnesota. It is not unusual for one or more eggs in a clutch not to hatch. The data sample is tiny since observers cannot see into the nest cups of more than 99.5% of the 12,000+ Bald Eagle nests in North America (not counting Alaska) and therefore cannot be sure how many eggs were laid. But some research and recent observations suggest that from 10%-25% of eggs may not hatch.

An egg fails to hatch either because it is infertile or because it is nonviable. An egg is infertile if the ovum is not fertilized by male sperm before it begins travelling down the female’s oviduct. This might be because of badly timed or incomplete copulation or because the sperm was defective or of insufficient numbers. In the wild, infertility seems to be much less common than nonviability.

An egg is considered nonviable, sometimes called addled or rotten, if the embryo of a fertilized egg does not develop properly. Nonviability can have many causes, among them:1) the egg does not have sufficient nutrients to nourish the developing embryo, which would be dependent on the health and diet of the female while the ovum was moving through her oviduct;

2) the egg is not properly incubated; by a few days after the egg is laid the embryo must be kept at a stable temperature between about 95 and 104 degrees F. (an egg can be left unincubated for short periods but rarely more than a few minutes at a time, depending on the ambient air temperature, the depth of the nest cup, and the presence or absence of precipitation); insufficient incubation is probably what happened to the eggs at the Sequoyah nest, and (assuming the eggs were fertile) possibly to the eggs in Minnesota;

3) the egg has not been turned often enough during incubation; this is necessary to prevent the embryo from adhering to the membranes that surround it, to bring the yolk that holds the embryo into contact with fresh stores of protein- and water-rich albumen (the “white” of the egg), to enable the capillaries in the membranes around the embryo to develop evenly throughout the shell (studies have shown that if these capillaries line less than 95% of the shell the embryo will have less than a 50% chance to hatch), and to be sure the chick is properly positioned (beak upward) at hatching time;

4) the eggshell has been penetrated by harmful bacteria or a chemical (as can happen if adults forage in a human landfill);

5) the shell is broken before the chick has fully developed inside; the shell becomes thinner and more fragile as the incubation period proceeds because the chick absorbs some of the calcium into its developing bones, so if an incubating parent moves suddenly in response to an unexpected event like an intruder—avian or mammalian including human disturbance—or inadvertently steps on or jostles the egg too vigorously the shell can crack. Related to this is the problem of pesticides like DDT (which is still residual in the environment in some parts of the U.S.) and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in the female’s food supply, which prevent the proper metabolism of calcium that is essential to development of a strong eggshell and render it incapable of standing up to the pressure of an adult’s body during incubation.

There have been observed instances where the adults seem to have deliberately buried a viable egg into the nest, possibly because they sensed there would not be enough food to feed the entire brood.

Sometimes a chick will begin the pipping process but die before it is able to fully emerge. The hatching process is strenuous and can take a couple of days. Once the shell is cracked it is more fragile and a false step by parent or already hatched sibling could damage it before the hatching process is complete. Bacteria can easily seep in through a cracked shell and weaken or kill the chick. If the egg turns over so that the head and beak are on the lower part of the egg, the chick could suffocate in the fluids inside the egg or in matted nesting material.

In most cases it is impossible to know whether it is infertility or nonviability that has caused an egg not to hatch. Depending on the cause and the timing during the incubation period, a nonviable egg often will break apart or even explode because of built-up gases inside, which of course the parents will realize. The egg may be trampled into the nest or even partially consumed by adults or fed to a hatched nestling. The parents may move pieces of shell out of the nest cup, as happened at the Jordan Lake nest, where the egg had probably been nonviable and broken for at least several days. An infertile egg usually remains intact throughout the incubation period. If the egg does not break up, the parents may not know it is infertile or nonviable and may continue to incubate it for days or even weeks beyond the time it would have hatched, although probably not constantly, as we have observed at the Sequoyah NWF and Minnesota DNR nests. Continued incubation is less likely if there is a hatchling in the nest, since the egg eventually will get in the way of the growing eaglet, the nest cup will become less deep, and there will not be room for the parent to incubate.

Sometimes the adult pair will mate again and lay a second or “double” clutch, although this is rare among Bald Eagles. The window of opportunity for a double clutch is small (2-3 weeks at most) and depends on many factors, including the cause of the first clutch’s failure (if because of intruders or a dearth of food in the area, the eagles may not be moved to repeat the risk), whether the climate allows enough time for a successful fledge, the weather in general (extreme temperatures can affect semen production, copulation, ovulation, fertilization, ovum development, and egg-laying), and most importantly, whether or not the reproductive organs have passed their prime for that season and cannot successfully carry out the necessary functions (for instance, the male’s sperm count will decrease as the normal breeding season wanes). These are all triggered by hormonal changes, themselves triggered by the photoperiod (increasing amount of daylight), so if the cycle is near its end for that breeding season, a double clutch is unlikely.

Much of this information came from these sources, as well as my own observations:

The Obama administration is revising a federal rule that allows wind-energy companies to operate high-speed turbines for up to 30 years, even if means killing or injuring thousands of federally protected bald and golden eagles.

Under the plan announced Wednesday, companies could kill or injure up to 4,200 bald eagles a year without penalty -- nearly four times the current limit. Golden eagles could only be killed if companies take steps to minimize the losses, for instance, by retrofitting power poles to reduce the risk of electrocution.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A small airplane hit a bald eagle before it crashed just north of Anchorage, Alaska, last month, killing all four people on board.

An investigator says it’s the nation’s first civilian plane crash to result in deaths after an impact with a bald eagle.

Shaun Williams with the National Transportation Safety Board says there have been other crashes involving eagle strikes that resulted in serious injuries, not deaths.

The pilot, co-pilot and two passengers died when the plane went down April 20 near a small airport about 20 miles north of Anchorage.

Williams says an unknown substance was later found on the aircraft. Analysis at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., determined some of it was feathers and other materials that came from an immature bald eagle.

Here's an interesting article about eagles taking pets or children: myth or mystery? Also, good stuff about swimming eagles. I always heard eagles locked onto prey and couldn't release, making them vulnerable to drowning. Not so...

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE! It's the longest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere. So what? Eagle watchers know about the Winter Solstice and how it marks the beginning of a new phase in the breeding season, with a very slow lengthening of the day length (photoperiod) that triggers bodily changes which eventually result in increased courtship activities. Well, the Summer Solstice has a similar effect on eagles who breed in southern climes like Florida, Oklahoma, and Georgia, where eagles lay eggs in November and December, in most cases well before the Winter Solstice.What the two solstices have in common is that they both mark the beginning of a change in the photoperiod -- from short to longer in the winter, from long to shorter in the summer. They also have in common the fact that the PACE of change in the photoperiod in the weeks before and after the solstice is very slow -- less than a minute from one day to the next -- in contrast to the fast-paced change in photoperiod -- 2 or 3 minutes -- during the weeks surrounding the equinoxes (spring and autumn).These two changes – the change of the photoperiod itself, and the pace of that change – are perceived by every living organism, each of which responds in its own way. Eagles’ bodies respond to the slowing pace of change by secreting certain hormones that trigger preparatory breeding behaviors – territorial claims, pair formation, bonding, and nest building. Scientists refer to this as the period of “photosensitivity” – the birds detect the slowing pace of change in the photoperiod. After the solstice, the photoperiod decreases (in summer) or increases (in winter) more and more quickly from one day to the next. Eagles then enter a phase called “photostimulation,” when other hormones are secreted that stimulate the gonads and the production of gametes, frequent copulation, and egg-laying.The science behind all this is complex and not fully understood in birds, and these few paragraphs here barely hit the peaks of the icebergs. But understanding that birds respond to the photoperiod CHANGES and not to whether the photoperiod decreases or increases helps explain why southern eagles lay eggs in late fall and winter. Within just a few weeks from today the eagles at the Southwest Florida nest and Berry College and Northeast Florida and in Oklahoma will be responding to the slow pace of photoperiod change as the days grow shorter, and they will become photosensitive. They will start claiming (or reclaiming) territories and mate up and plot their nests. A few weeks later when the days are getting shorter more quickly, they will be photostimulated and ready to lay eggs. Buckle up!

"The government wants to increase the number and timeline for accidental eagle deaths—but it doesn't even know if the birds can sustain those losses."

By Michele BergerJune 22, 2016

"In the push to decrease U.S. dependence on oil, wind’s often touted as a key part of the renewables equation; the most aggressive scenario forecasts that will generate 35 percent of our energy by 2035. Yet despite its promise, wind has a big problem: Turbine blades—towering hundreds of feet in the air, rotating at hundreds of miles per hour—kill birds and bats."

KUSA - As the nation prepares to celebrate America's birthday, conservationists are in a fight to protect America's symbol, the bald eagle.

"There's an active response to what's going on," Dana Bove said.

Bove serves on the Board of Directors for the Boulder County Audubon Society. In May, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a change to allow more permits for bald and golden eagle deaths under the current Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Bove says the driving force behind the change is the expansion of wind energy across the country. He says wind farms have caused the deaths of bald and golden eagles.

"They wind up flying through and drawn into the blades and they're killed," Bove said.

The U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service has been taking public comment and feedback for two months on this proposal. The public comment period ends July 5.

If the proposed change is approved, Bove says the government will allow 2,000 golden eagles and up to 6,000 bald eagles to be killed each year without penalty. Right now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services allows around 1,000 deaths.

Amazing to watch the responses of each of the chicks. One sees what is coming and bails over the side. Another flattens itself on the nest. Very sad, and yet, its nature taking its course. Thank you for the post, R4. As noted in the article, it is difficult for humans who become attached to the chicks to see this.

I was thinking about the increase in the bald eagle population over time and wondered about how they adjust to more of them occupying a given territory. I came across the linked article that speaks to their adjustments to urban environments.https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/...b76b_story.html